Begonia plant named &#39;Garden Angel Blush&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct form of  Begonia  plant characterized by maple-like palmately lobed leaves with showy interveinal silvering blushed with plum-red, red leaf backs, a bushy habit, small clusters of large cherry pink flowers in winter to early spring, hardy to USDA Z7, and excellent vigor.

BOTANICAL DENOMINATION

Begonia hybrid

VARIETY DESIGNATION

‘Garden Angel Blush’

PARENTAGE

Begonia ‘Benitochiba’×Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana

Comparison to siblings Begonia ‘Garden Angel Plum’ and Begonia ‘Garden Angel Silver’ applied for concurrently

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia, of the family Begoniaceae, and given the cultivar name, ‘Garden Angel Blush’. This plant originated from planned breeding program for a colorful series of landscape Begonia. The new cultivar originated from a cross between Begonia ‘Benitochiba’ (unpatented), as the seed parent, and Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana, as the pollen parent (unpatented). This selection is uniquely characterized by:

1. maple-like palmately lobed leaves with showy interveinal silvering blushed with plum-red,

2. red leaf backs,

3. a bushy habit,

4. small clusters of large cherry pink flowers in winter to early spring,

5. hardy to USDA Z7, and

6. excellent vigor.

Compared to the seed parent Begonia ‘Benitochiba’, an unpatented plant, the new cultivar has leaves that are palmately lobed rather than palmately compound. The new cultivar is hardy rather than being a tropical plant.

Compared to the pollen parent, Begonia grandis subsp. evansiana (an unpatented plant with the common name, Hardy Begonia), the new cultivar has leaves that are palmately lobed rather than no lobes and with strong interveinal silvering rather than no silvering.

Compared to Begonia ‘Garden Angel Plum’ (U.S. Plant Patent applied for concurrently), the new cultivar has a plum-red blush rather than being all plum in warm temperatures and is shorter.

Compared to Begonia ‘Garden Angel Silver’ (U.S. Plant Patent applied for concurrently), the new cultivar has a plum-red blush.

The new variety has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (cuttings and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by micropropagation as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a 9-month-old plant with flowers growing in a one gallon container in January in a warm greenhouse in Canby. Oreg.

DETAILED PLANT DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of the new Begonia cultivar based on observations of nine-month-old specimens grown in one gallon containers inside a cool greenhouse in early January in Canby, Oreg. Canby is Zone 8 on the USDA Hardiness map. Temperatures range from a high of 95 degrees F. in August to 32 degrees F. in January. Normal rainfall in Canby is 42.8 inches per year. The color descriptions are all based on The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 5^(th) edition.

-   Plant:     -   -   Type.—herbaceous rhizomatous perennial.         -   Form.—caulescent, shrubby.         -   Cold hardiness.—USDA Zone 7.         -   Size.—grows to 35 cm tall and 60 cm wide.         -   Vigor.—excellent. -   Stem:     -   -   Type.—upright.         -   Size.—grows to 26 cm long and 8 mm wide.         -   Internodes.—from 2 cm to 7 cm long.         -   Surface.—pubescent.         -   Color.—Greyed Purple 187A. -   Leaf:     -   -   Type.—simple.         -   Arrangement.—alternate.         -   Shape.—broadly ovate.         -   Lobing /division.—4 to 6 main palmate lobes.         -   Margins.—serrate.         -   Venation.—palmate, Gray Brown 199A on topside, bottom side             Greyed Purple 187B.         -   Apex.—acuminate.         -   Base.—oblique.         -   Blade size.—grows to 10.5 cm wide and 15 cm long.         -   Surface texture.—pubescent on top and bottom.         -   Stipules.—deciduous, ovate-lanceolate, grows to 19 mm long             and 6 mm wide, papery, translucent, glabrous on both sides,             Greyed Red 182C.         -   Petiole description.—grows to 13 cm long and 6 mm wide,             pubescent, Greyed Brown N199A.         -   Leaf color.—top side between Greyed Purple N187A and N187B             tinted Purple N79B except along veins where Black 203A;             bottom side Red Purple 59A. -   Inflorescence:     -   -   Type.—axillary, bisexual, cymose.         -   Number of flowers per cyme.—about 4.         -   Peduncle description.—grows 12 cm long and 2 mm wide,             glabrous, fleshy, Greyed Brown 199B; with 2 opposite,             dehiscent petiolate leaf-bracts below each cyme, which grow             to 8 mm wide and 22 mm long, margins entire, tip apiculate,             both sides glabrous Greyed Purple 185C.         -   Pedicel description.—grow to 30 mm long, 1.5 mm wide,             fleshy, pubescent, Red Purple 63C on staminate and             pistillate flowers.         -   Bloom period.—late fall to early winter in Canby, Oreg. -   Flower bud:     -   -   Size.—staminate flowers 25 mm long and 26 mm wide prior to             opening; pistillate flowers are 17 mm deep and 12 mm wide             prior to opening.         -   Color.—Red Purple 63A on tepal area, Red 48A on ovary. -   Flower:     -   -   Type.—monoecious, bilaterally symmetrical.         -   Pistillate flower.—grows to 30 mm deep and 50 mm wide             overall; 5 fleshy tepals, grow to 26 mm long and 19 mm wide,             broadly elliptical, tip acute, base attenuate, margins             entire, glabrous on inside and pubescent on outside, Red             Purple 63C on both sides; ovary to 30 mm wide and 17 mm             deep, three winged, two equal and one longer, Red 37A, style             7 mm long and 3 to 4 mm wide, Orange 26C, stigma 3 branched             and twisted, stigma 6 mm deep and 10 mm wide overall, Orange             25C with edges Yellow 13C.         -   Staminate flower.—12 mm deep and 53 mm wide, 4 tepals, 2             larger outer tepals grow to 28 mm long and 20 mm wide,             ovate, margin entire, tip obtuse, base cuneate; inner tepals             grow to 22 mm long and 11 mm wide, oblanceolate, entire, tip             obtuse, base attenuate; tepals both sides Red Purple 63C;             stamen many in a globular head 7 mm in diameter on staminal             column 2 mm long and 1 mm wide, Red 37C; filaments             threadlike and 2.5 mm long, Green Yellow 1D, anthers 1.5 mm             long, anthers Yellow 15D, no pollen.         -   Fragrance.—none.         -   Lastingness.—A cyme blooms for about 4 weeks on the plant. -   Fruit and seed: none, sterile -   Diseases and pests: The new cultivar is typical to the genus. No     known resistances to pests or diseases. No problems have been found     in Canby, Oreg. 

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct form of Begonia plant as hereby illustrated and described. 